The present invention relates to a display package for displaying merchandise in a commercial setting, and to a system for interconnecting a plurality of display packages together to make the packages suitable for shipment from manufacturer to retailer and equally suited for immediate display on pallets and the like in the same configuration. The invention also relates to a system for shipping and displaying products that are packaged in display packages according to the present invention in a blister pack or clamshell package form.
Many products are sold in blister packages or clamshell packages. In blister packages, the article is placed on a piece of cardboard and then covered by a plastic bubble that is sized to retain and reveal the item which is attached to the cardboard. Some blister packages use a plastic back rather than cardboard. Clamshell packages are similar to blister packages but instead of having a plastic bubble affixed to a cardboard or other backing, clamshell packages have two portions that are designed to hold the merchandise, literature, etc. within a cavity or cavities therein. The clamshell packages can be formed into a single unit with a hinge, or they can have two separate halves which are attached together, such as by heat welding, staples, RF sealing, UV sealing, etc. Typically, groups of blister packages and clamshell packages are shipped to the point of sale in corrugated trays that are in turn placed in larger shipping containers or on pallets. There the blister packages or clamshell packages are removed from their shipping configuration and displayed for sale in their trays and pallets or on shelves, counters, tables, racks and hanging brackets.
Many retail stores are now selling articles directly from their shipping containers or pallets. This permits retailers to reduce their labor costs because they no longer need to remove the products from the shipping container, and then place them on display racks. A preferred practice is to remove or cut away a portion of the shipping container, leaving the product to be displayed in the remaining portion of the shipping container. Preferably, a sufficient part of the shipping container is cut away so that the products can easily be viewed by the passing customer.
However, because of their shape and the location of their center of gravity, most blister packages and clamshell packages have a tendency to fall over when placed in a stand-alone upright position. Consequently in order for blister packages to be displayed in a shipping container or on a pallet, it is necessary to provide some form of support structure to hold the blister packages in an upright display position. A number of systems have been utilized, most of which require some form of plastic or corrugated tray into which display package are placed in one or more rows. The tray has slots into which the opposite edges of the blister pack or clamshell pack are fitted.
It would be desirable to have display packages and a system that does not rely on such trays. It would also be useful to have display packaging system which gives positive visual cues to both the customer and vendor as to the number of packaged items being handled. A display package which is sufficiently stabilized to stand alone on one of its sides is also desirable.
Moreover, while it is desirable that the interconnection between adjacent display packages be maintained during shipping and store display, it is important for a purchaser to be able to easily remove a desired number of display packages from the group of interconnected display packages without disrupting the group of interconnected display packages remaining at the display location.